Inside Story

Will the MPLA retain power in Angola?

Many fear continuation of party’s decades of rule could trigger unrest.

Angola’s election commission said on Thursday the governing People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) party had a strong lead over the opposition in the country’s election.

The MPLA has held power in Angola for nearly five decades, most of it under president Jose Eduardo dos Santos who was in power from 1979 to 2017.

But despite Angola’s oil wealth, little has reached its people and unemployment is high.

The opposition group, National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), had hoped to capitalise on young people’s frustrations about poverty.

So, could the outcome lead to renewed turmoil in the southern African country?

Presenter: Kim Vinell

Guests:

Jose Gama – Member of the Mudei Civic Movement

Borges Nhamirre – Research consultant at the Institute for Security Studies Africa

Marisa Lourenco – Independent political analyst with a focus on Angola, Mozambique and South Africa